Just A Hug

Most Saturdays we make our way over to Zellers for breakfast with some friends. What a great way to start the weekend. Upon arriving, we head for the semicircular booth so we can see each other while sitting around the table. (Did I ever tell you that this is the best positioning of the pews in a church?) Recently another couple we don’t know arrived earlier then us and took that booth. Two people in a booth for five and maybe six. It’s been comical seeing them run for the table. It’s been a running joke to see if they get there before us. The waitresses are in on it as well.
Just recently, our friends arrived early and stood in line waiting to be let into the restaurant. They arrived before the other couple. When we arrived, we went up to the front of the line to join them and greeted each other with hugs and a smile.
Then something wonderful and heart warming happened. Right behind our friends were three other groups of people. The first group was two ladies having a nice animated conversation and evidently feeling great about Saturday morning as well. We had just finished our hugs when one of the women said to our group, “Are they exclusive hugs, or can anyone have one.” Well don’t ask me twice. I reached out and hugged her, and then offered one to her friend without asking. The wonderful part is, with broad smiles they hugged back. You know what I mean.
Maybe that is what is missing in our world. Not enough hugs. I watched a video on youtube a number of months ago where two young people stood in the town square holding signs that read, “Free Hugs.” It took a while for the first hug but then it caught on. Facial expressions changed. Smiles came, curiosity showed on other faces and it became a wonderful, heart warming happening for many people.
As an interim minister I look for two things when I first visit a church. The first thing I look for is laughter. So key in know the people believe in a loving God who isn’t mad at them. The second thing I look for is hugs. That act of kindness tells me people care for each other.
Next Sunday when you arrive at church, look for those two things. If they are not there, start a movement. If it is there, praise God and then take the laugher of the redeemed with you into the streets and hug someone else who wasn’t there.
Something to think about.
Rob

Follow

Spring is here! Groundhog Day seems like only yesterday. Okay, that is a stretch. To celebrate the occasion we took a drive on Sunday. Not a long drive, but long enough to notice how beautiful the day was. God had given us a wonderful Sunday and enjoying it was meant to be.
It was a very different drive then we endured six months earlier. On that occasion it was going to be a very long drive. Two people, two cars and too many, many miles to go. While one person drove ahead, the other followed. It worked and two days later we arrived safe and sound.
I think back often to the advice my driving instructor gave me forty-five years ago. He said; “The only way you can avoid accidents’ is to have your hands on the wheel and your eyes straight ahead almost all the time.” I still hear his words echoing in my head. Great advise? Absolutely. In all this time I have yet to have an accident from what’s in front of me.
It is also good advice in our faith and in our churches. Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes straight ahead. My bible tells me that I am to follow Him. Following means that I am behind the one who knows not only the way but also the road ahead. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth the life.”
I know that someone out there is thinking, what about the mirrors. Some more counsel from my instructor. “Use the mirrors all the time but only for brief moments just so you know what’s happening around you.” Life can be filled with similar moments that make us readily aware of where we are in life and what is happening around us. But they are only moments. You see, we are on a journey. We are going somewhere and that somewhere involves following, and looking ahead.
As Christ followers we are to be, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” We are to follow Him, individually as well as collectively. We are all on the same path. Look around and see all the others who are on the same journey, but keep you eyes on the one you follow.
“I will follow Him
Follow Him wherever He may go”. . .
Something to think about.
Rob

We're In This Together

Our world has changed. I’m not just talking about computers, cell phones, or all those electronic devices. I’m not even talking about how society has changed and how our churches need to “get with the times.” This past week our world changed. One singular event in world history impacts us all. We have yet to comprehend the enormity of what has happened to this small island nation off the east coast of China. Beyond the changes thrust on people and their way of life, we all have more to consider. Image after image, unrelenting in what we see on our tv and monitor screens show us things we have never viewed before. There is more. They are telling us that Japan’s coastline has moved an average of eight feet and the earth has rotated possibly ten inches on its axis. That is change.
And still, that is not the change I am referring to. I am concerned about people. Average individuals. Everyday people like you and me. People that get up every morning and go to work or school. People who have had the heart of their lives ripped apart. People, individuals, families, generations of people have died, lost love ones, even disappeared. Yes, the devastation is phenomenal but the impact on peoples lives changes’ everything.
I could care less about things. Almost anything and everything can be replaced. Those things don’t matter. Who really cares about a car or someone’s personal possessions? Watching the water envelop everything in its path does not move me like reading the statistics of those people dead, unaccounted for, and missing. Or seeing the image of a singular women, wrapped in a comforter in the midst of disaster. That moves my heart.
One verse of scripture came to my mind as I listened intently to the broadcast. “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” God is not talking about losing our life here in this world. He is talking about eternity.
As Christ followers our hearts need to go out to this nation, these people. It needs to be moved to pray for each and everyone. For those lost in the tragedy and those who are left standing and looking around in disbelief. We need to pray for those lost, those who have lost someone, to a nation brought to its knees by tragedy and loss of life.
Early Monday morning I was again watching things unfold in Japan when I read at the bottom of the screen, that some relief workers from Brantford are already on the ground in Japan doing what they can to help. We may not be called to go over and help physically but I believe we should all do what we can, and if all we can do is pray, then that is the least we can do.
Something to think about.
Let’s pray
Rob

It's Dinner Time

Do you agree with this statement? I believe God has an amazing way of teaching us, caring, and rewarding us. When I was a kid, mom fed us many things. She did the best she could. We didn’t have much but we did have enough. There were those bags of Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice for breakfast. Didn’t like it much but the alternative wasn’t good at all. There were other times she put things on our plates that I was convinced should never have been invented or grown or taken out of an animal. Like Brussel Spouts, and kidney or liver or even coffee tasting chocolates. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I found out why we had some of those things. It was all we could afford. She gave us the best she could and sometimes did without herself so we could have three squares a day.
On the whole, mom supplied us four kids with all the nourishment we needed. In most cases we were glad for what we had and even thanked God for it. Remember that this was before fast food. My first recollection of going out for a meal was when my sister treated all of us to lunch one Mother’s Day. I believe I would have been eight or ten. Mom did something else we didn’t know about. She had a running account at the Groceteria at the end of the street. This was before credit cards. That one act, feed us when no money was to be had. Maybe that is why I will never put any food on my Visa today.
As I reflect today, I can see a reflection of God in what she did. Our lives are filled with things that nourish our bodies, minds and spirits, each and every day. I’m not just talking about physical care now. And just like many years ago, they are there for our good. We read God’s word and realize it’s also there for our good. We apply it and our lives are made better. At other times, life isn’t so wonderful. There are times in our lives when we have things come at us that we don’t like or want. But God walks with us thorough it. Just recently I heard Dr. Steve Brown say something like this; Unbelievers get something and a believer gets something as well and it’s just so the world can see the difference. And so can we.
I remember my mom feeding us fried liver. It was nasty. I can hear her voice even today; “When you finish that you can have dessert.” Can you hear God’s voice tonight? “When dinner is all over, we get dessert.” Oh, by the way, Jesus paid the bill.
Something to think about
Rob